In this Sept. 28, 2017 photo, people affected by Hurricane Maria bathe in water piped in from a mountain creek, in Naranjito, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)

(Newser)
–
Most of the people waiting in line for water Friday at a well in Puerto Rico were unaware it was coming from a federally designated Superfund site, reports CNN, which made the discovery after reviewing documents and speaking with officials. With more than 35% of residents still lacking water three weeks after Hurricane Maria, it's unclear it would have changed much if they were aware. "I don't have a choice," a 66-year-old man says. "This is the only option I have." The well sits on the Dorado Groundwater Contamination Site, which was listed as a part of the Superfund program to clean up hazardous waste just last year. The EPA says the site is polluted with industrial chemicals that can damage the liver and increase the risk of cancer.

The Puerto Rico water utility pumping the well and distributing the water to residents says it was unaware it was on a Superfund site until shown maps by CNN, though it maintains the water is fine for drinking. The EPA also says that while the site contains hazardous chemicals, it's unclear if the well itself does. "While some of these wells are sometimes used to provide drinking water, the EPA is concerned that people could be drinking water that may be contaminated, depending on the well," the EPA says in a statement. A professor of toxicology says he's "never seen this before"—a Superfund site being used as a source of drinking water. Meanwhile, authorities Saturday raised the death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria to 48, the AP reports. About 85% of the island still has no power.

If the EPA says that the water may potentially contain chemicals which can cause cancer, then it is probably a crystal clear spring with the purest water in Puerto Rico, because the EPA believes that everything causes cancer.

Nofun

Oct 15, 2017 6:18 AM CDT

But, but, but there is a mayor there that made trump look small ... so ... let them drink contaminated water MAGA, MAGA, MAGA,.

dan6807

Oct 14, 2017 11:50 PM CDT

I would like to know why a disaster relief water ship has not been built? Solar panels can supply power to break down ocean water into fresh water and fill a tanker at sea to be used during disasters. Instead the taxpayers are shipping bottled water by US NAVY that sits on the docks, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions every time there is disaster. Any billionaires out there who don't need gold toilets for their pampered butts and really want to help fellow humans can either get the governments of the world to pitch in or build some themselves. Each ship could supply water while others are filling up and they could use existing pipes.